'Midwood' on Serious Eats

Di Fara, when it's firing on all cylinders, is delicious. Now add to that a concentrated hit of sweet, roasted tomato flavor — the halved orbs take on just a hint of charring in the oven. Of all the "specialty" toppings at Di Fara, this is my favorite. And like those toppings, there's a hefty $2 surcharge on top of the $5 hit for a plain slice. To bring an otherwise $7 slice down in price, I suggest ordering this by the pie; at $30 it comes out to an almost reasonable $3.75 a pop. More

My first visit to Di Fara was bittersweet, timed as it was to mark my last day at Slice/Serious Eats World Headquarters. Still, what a way to go out. From reading Slice commentary, I expected the pizza to be delicious but possibly burned or greasy. The golden-crusted pies we got, however, were perfectly executed, the ideal New York pizza.... More

"I just wished that the slice hadn't been quite so oily; I felt as if I had to slurp through a puddle before getting to the true, vibrant flavors." As promised earlier today, here are the quick-and-dirty notes from the Di Fara first-timers I led on our Midwood expedition earlier today. We ordered a plain round pie, a plain square pie, and a special artichoke pie (round). Total damage: $85 big ones!... More

Now that the $5 Di Fara slice has hit the New York Times, I've got friends and strangers emailing and twitting me with questions I feel I've answered a million times here on Slice—albeit over the span of many different blog posts. So, as a public service, here is all the info you need to know about Di Fara gathered in one place—a Di Fara FAQ, if you will. What's So Great About It? This "crowd" is fairly light, as far as Di Fara goes. Do I really have to rehash all this? A pie from Di Fara can... More

You heard it here first, kids, but the New York Times finally filed a story on the Di Fara $5 slice price, so I guess it's officially news now. Best quote of the story: “It’s like they dug up my grandma and she made the pie." But perhaps the most interesting part of the story is the revelation from Dom's daughter Maggie that something has changed in the way he makes the pies....... More

I just got back from a trip to Di Fara to check out unsubstantiated rumors of a Di Fara closing. The pizzeria was indeed closed, but Dom DeMarco's daughter, Maggie, was there and reports that her father was at the doctor for "minor mouth surgery." No word on when the place will reopen. Stay tuned. Update: It has reopened.... More

Admittedly, the previous item I blogged about was a week old*, and in that time Alan Richman has moved on to writing about some old standbys. He posted his thoughts yesterday on Grimaldi's (DUMBO), Patsy's (East Harlem), and Di Fara (Midwood). Again, let's take them in order. On Grimaldi's: The oven is just right, but the crusts are merely okay—they have a fresh, bready smell, but to me they’re a little too thick and slightly too soft, somewhat undercooked. The tomato sauce is vibrant and essential, which means the white pizzas are best skipped. These basically consist of soft, melted... More

I think this has been reported on the blogs or on Chowhounds before, but with the new Di Fara hours (instituted after Dom DeMarco's knee surgery), they essentially lock you in at or shortly after 8:30 p.m. Johnny- and Janey-come-lately are, in turn, locked out while Dom serves the remaining crowd inside. It's a bit sad to see didn't-make-its pull at the door handle and get shooed away by the gloating crowd inside, but what can you do. I also noted a fair amount of schadenfreude at the expense of the slowpokes.... More

Only the truly dedicated put up with the long, long wait for the awesome pizza at Di Fara. But how long have you waited? Longtime Slice reader Norman has a great idea: "You should do a post to find out who's waited the longest for a pie from Dom. I'll go first: 2 hours 15 minutes." Norman, I think I've waited almost that long but unfortunately did not take official time readings, so I'll cede the crown to you so far. Can anyone else top Norman?... More

From the answering machine at the legendary Brooklyn pizzeria Di Fara: "Due to a medical emergency we are temporarily closed. We are hoping to reopen on or before February 1. Thank you for all your concern, and have a great day." We hope that everyone's OK at Di Fara and that this only is a minor medical emergency. We've tried to contact Di Fara and will bring you any news as we can get it. [via Chowhound; thanks, David J.] UPDATE (4 p.m. 1/21/2009) I just heard from Maggie, Dom DeMarco's daughter. She and Mr. DeMarco were in a... More

Eater is reporting sorta big news happening in Midwood, Brooklyn. Di Fara has SORTA, FINALLY gotten its act together and now has a list for taking orders and for sorta calling people's names when their pizza was ready: "There is a list whenever I am working," says Dom's daughter, Margaret. "I think my brothers are starting following suit, but I'm not sure. I know the chaos and I really feel for everyone." We've long advocated for something like this, even offering to take up a collection to buy Dom and family a "Take-a-Ticket" system. There's nothing more frustrating than... More

We were speechless reading Gothamist's post about a blogger who attacked Di Fara for being a filthy tourist trap. Luckily Grub Street put our thoughts into words: "Some anonymous writer is going to lecture Dom DeMarco on what constitutes Brooklyn culture? Maybe if the writer had actually bothered to eat the pizza, he would feel differently." We agree entirely. Although we wouldn't have included a link to the blog.... More

Clicking in to the Slice inbox today, we've got ... an email from a guy in some band or other. Photographs by Brian Chase Hi, Adam, I posted a review of Di Fara's on my band's website, http://site.yeahyeahyeahs.com/, that I thought you would be interested in checking out. Dom for president! Best regards, Brian... More

Photograph by Eating in Translation Looks like Di Fara was closed for a "big order" Saturday. The occasion? Somebody's wedding. The blog Eating in Translation has the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey would say.... More

If you're a Flickr user, you probably already know the site, previously known for photo-sharing, has added video-sharing now. I decided to test-drive the feature with this video from yesterday afternoon: It's really nothing you haven't seen in other Di Fara videos or in person if you've been there, but there you go. Related: All Di Fara entries on Slice »... More

"This is like the Ben & Jerry's of toppings—it's like, it's not just a little bit of garlic; it's a LOT of garlic" —Sunny Anderson, Food Network host As part of his FN Dish online show for the Food Network, Adam "Amateur Gourmet" Roberts goes to Di Fara with Sunny Anderson, a new Food Network show host. If you want to skip the bunkum about Roberts getting his hair cut and the Food Network promo junk, go to 1:30 into the video for the Di Fara stuff, where Anderson calls garlic and pepperoni the "Ben & Jerry's of toppings" (which... More

With Facebook, I go through fits and starts. I'll leave it alone for weeks and then get a bug and play with it obsessively for a couple of days. Last night I was on the damn thing and noticed this whole "Pages" thing, where you can become a "Fan" of someone or something. I was already a fan of Grand Sichuan International restaurant, so I checked to see if there was a Di Fara fan page. Nope. Zilch. Nada. Bupkes. Sure there was a Fans of Di Fara group, which I'm also a member of, but no Di Fara page.... More

The sixth slice is as good as the first. Yes, I just said 'sixth.' I would like to piggyback off of the Real Slim Shady's recent comments on America's Favorite Pizza Weblog and take it one step further with respect to his top two NYC pizzerias. I recently visited both Di Fara and Patsy's within 24 hours of each other, and my memories of both are still fresh in my mind. When Patsy's of East Harlem is "on," as AK likes to say, they are not only number one in New York, there is some serious distance between them and... More

Michael Y. Park of Epicurious.com's Epi-Log visits Di Fara and comes back with a nice step-by-step slideshow of the action. While the piece is titled "Secrets of Di Fara," Park concludes: So the surprising thing is there are no real surprises. Di Fara pizza may be widely reputed to be "the best in the world," as one lifelong customer put it, but every step Domenico takes is one that any home pizza maker would already be very familiar with. So is there a secret recipe that makes Di Fara pizzas so legendary? Related: All Di Fara entries on Slice... More

I took a visit out there last week and spent a considerable amount of time talking to Domenico DeMarco, 71. I was there to investigate the price spike but ended up learning a lot about the 150 or so pizzas he makes a day, such as cooking the pies at 750°F for five minutes; the use of Israeli basil and Italian flour. But there is one thing I'd like to clear up. DeMarco uses four types of cheeses--not three. There are three types of mozzarella and of course the signature Parmigiano-reggiano he hits every pie with just before serving them.... More